amping monitor series 5.1

sponger

Have a CS2 center with M70 fronts and M30s in the back for a 5.1.

I was considering a Russound X225 (225W/Chann) for the front M70s. But, the CS2 center and M30 surrounds will be running off the AVR at 75W/Chann.

So my question is this: Is the amount of wattage going to the M70s too disproportionate to what the other channels are receiving? With the total wattage of the center and surrounds adding up to only what one of the front L R channels is getting, is there too much wattage inequality in my 5.1 set-up? Will this lop-sided wattage distribution create an invisible ceiling for the other channels, thus undermining the sonic integrity of the system as a whole?

I should probably mention that the AVR has the Audyssey set-up function.

cfrizz

I hate to break it to you, but you don't have preouts to add a separate amp, so you would have to upgrade your receiver first.

Once you had the amp in place all you have to do is calibrate all of your speakers to level all the speakers. But what you will notice is the greater clarity that your M70s will have over your other speakers.

Which will get you to wondering just how much better the rest of the speakers will sound amped up.

tonyb

Honestly, if I were you, I'd save the coin. The monitor series is very easy to drive even with a budget receiver. Plus you have a subwoofer holding up the low end so thats even less power soaked up by the speakers.

Maybe save some coin and upgrade the receiver down the line to one with preouts and a tad more power, then see if you still want to add an amp after listening to that.

sponger

Thanks for the advice. The Russound has speaker-level inputs, so it is an option. That is unless speaker-level inputs have an adverse impact on fidelity. Just noticed, however, that it's rated at 225W /Chann at 4 ohms. Being as that the M70s have an 8 ohm impedence, I'm not really sure anymore if the price of that amp would be worth it.

HTguru1982

Your receiver needs to have preouts to make hook-up to an amp possible and yours does NOT. There's no way to make it work. Zip. Nada. And not that it matters since you don't have preouts, but the amp will be able to power your 8 ohm speakers. The fact that it can also power 4 ohm speakers doesn't mean a thing, expect that is a very capable amplifier.

sponger

HTguru1982 wrote: »

Your receiver needs to have preouts to make hook-up to an amp possible and yours does NOT. There's no way to make it work. Zip. Nada.

The amp has speaker-level inputs. Thank you for your input. It was very helpful.

cnh

The receiver needs to have speaker OUTPUTS not INPUTS. Those inputs are for multi-channel in from a Blu-ray or SACD player, not for amps!

Though the Monitor series is not hard to drive. The M-70s do NOT sound their best unless they have some decent power behind them. In my experience a true 130 watt AVR with real 130 watt per channel output (like my Onkyo TX-SR-805) is the minimum power that can actually make the 70s sound reasonable. If you put a 200 watt x 2 power amp on them, you'll really hear what those much maligned entry level towers are capable of (i.e., outperforming Rti-8s IMO!).

As to powering your speakers. Get something that can do the front three justice or get an AVR with pre-outs and amplification for the M-70s and the CS2. You've got to match the front three at least!

I know, I know. More purchases, more money. Not much we can do there!

cnh

sponger

The amplifier itself --not the receiver-- has speaker-level inputs. Here is the amp:

http://www.russound.com/product_detail.php?i=3248

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that I can connect the receiver to the amp via a pair of speaker wires? Is that not what speaker-level inputs are?

Also, you said that M70s need 200W to really come alive. But the amp is rated to produce 150W with an 8 ohm load. That's certainly a lot better than what I"ve got now, but not enough to justify the price of that amp, IMO. Plus, you did imply that it would be redundant to juice the M70s without including the CS2, so I guess I'm going to drop the idea anyway -- speaker level inputs or no speaker level inputs.

Silverfang2340

sponger wrote: »

The amplifier itself --not the receiver-- has speaker-level inputs. Here is the amp:

http://www.russound.com/product_detail.php?i=3248

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that I can connect the receiver to the amp via a pair of speaker wires? Is that not what speaker-level inputs are?

Also, you said that M70s need 200W to really come alive. But the amp is rated to produce 150W with an 8 ohm load. That's certainly a lot better than what I"ve got now, but not enough to justify the price of that amp, IMO. Plus, you did imply that it would be redundant to juice the M70s without including the CS2, so I guess I'm going to drop the idea anyway -- speaker level inputs or no speaker level inputs.

Take a look at this picture first,

Notice where it says PREOUT, then FRONT (white and red jacks), that is where your rca's would connect from your amps corresponding left and right channels. If you choose to get a 3 channel amp, you can then connect your center speaker as well, or buy a separate amp to power it.

Hope this helps

ravaneli

sponger, don't pay attention to them, they are confused. You are correct, speaker level input means what you think it does. You CAN use that amp with your receiver. The power difference between that amp and your receiver will be substantial, more than twice for sure. The watts of the amp are real, and it will feed the lower impedances much better than your receiver and can handle much higher currents.
One thing to note with that configuration - you will want to turn the volume of Front left and front right DOWN on your receiver so you can use the amp for the amplification! hope that makes sense.

All that said, i would have to agree with tonyb that if it were me I would save the coin. You will not be amazed when you add the amp, other that it will be able to go louder. If you listened to 2.0 with just the towers.. you will probably find nice improvement on the mid and high volume, but since you have a center the towers are having auxiliary function and don't play much and don't consume much power anyway.

All your components are a good match, same quality level. Keep em as is. When time comes, you will need a new system altogether. No point of good avr/amp with this kind of speakers (sorry) and no point of good speakers with this kind of avr. So keep what u got until u ready for the next level : )

rooftop59

Yes unfortunately I have to agree with ravaneli here. Some of the nicest and most educated polkies don't read before they respond

I have an audiosource amp 200 that is set up the same way. You can connect the traditional way using preouts to the line-in on the amp, then connect speaker wire from the binding posts of the amp to the speakers (the method that I am using), or you can run speaker wire out of the fl and fr on your receiver to the speaker line level inputs on the amp, then continue to the speakers as above. Basically utilizing the same technology as lots of subs (this is in fact how my sub in my office is connected, using speaker line level inputs and outputs). So yes, you can add the amp to your current setup.

As for whether you should, I am tending to agree with everyone above. For the price those generally sell for, I would put that 250-300 into a new more powerful avr with preouts, which will give at least a little more power to all of your speakers, and allow for future upgrades.

Good luck!

sponger

Either way, I think everyone had the intention of being helpful and so I can appreciate that. In another thread titled "2 chann amp, ohms, and bi-wiring question," this subject was mulled over again and it was decided that speaker-level inputs would sound horrible. Someone also mentioned that they would make me the laughing stock of the forums, and that is something I definitely want to avoid at all costs.

I remember that car audio amplifiers including the pricier ones from JL Audio and Alpine also have speaker-level inputs for obvious reasons concerning limitations presented by vehicle installations. I never used them, but I always figured that they wouldn't be there if they weren't comparable to low-level (i.e., pre-amp level) inputs. But some searches over the wireless internets turned up enough evidence to convince me otherwise.

Then again, rooftop59, you are using speaker-level inputs for your mains and you have no complaints?

ravaneli

it will be tricky because you have to properly select the point of amplification. If the AVR sends very low level signal and all amplification happens at the amp it should work fine. I tested my DSW660 sub with speaker level input and i couldn't tell the difference to be honest, but that's a sub.

The good thing about going with that amp is that if you get preouts later you can still use it with the preouts.

sponger

ravaneli wrote: »

The good thing about going with that amp is that if you get preouts later you can still use it with the preouts.

I was thinking the same thing. At least it will hold me over until such point in time when I can set things up proper. Still probably not gonna do it though. The consensus seems to be that patience and planning will pay off.

hertz9753

sponger wrote: »

I was thinking the same thing. At least it will hold me over until such point in time when I can set things up proper. Still probably not gonna do it though. The consensus seems to be that patience and planning will pay off.

Good luck with your furture upgrades. You should add Denon 1612 in your sig. I have a Denon 1911 in my bedroom with the same front 3 speakers you are running.